Forderung

Forms

Forderung f (genitive Forderung, plural Forderungen)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle High German vorderunge, inherited from Old High German fordarunga, a noun formed with -ung from fordern, vordern, Old High German fordarōn.^[2][3][4] The verb is a derivative of vorder, fordaro, and first meant to make someone or something come forward, as in calling a man out to fight.^[3][2] The verb is found only in German, from which Swedish fordra and Dutch vorderen were borrowed.^[5][2] In some regions the first r was lost by dissimilation (vodern), and until the 19th century the noun was also spelled Foderung.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old High German fordrunga is first recorded in a gloss of the 9th century rendering Latin promotiones “advancements”, and an 11th-century gloss uses it for praerogativa “privilege”.^[4][2] Middle High German vorderunge meant a demand, a claim in law, and a complaint;^[6][7] Walther von der Vogelweide says his claim on someone is less than a bean (mîn vorderunge ist ûf in kleiner denne ein bône).^[6][7]

Semantic evolution

From Middle High German times fordern was a common term of law for summoning someone to court and for claiming payments and dues, and Forderung was used above all as a legal claim until the 18th century, in pairs such as Klage und Forderung; later it came to mean chiefly money owed.^[2][4][5] A rarer sense, recorded from 1596, was a challenge to a duel.^[4][8] The Grimms' dictionary contrasts it with Verlangen: a Forderung is more imperious and directed outward, so that one says eine harte Forderung but ein heißes Verlangen.^[7] In the 15th and 16th centuries the form forderung was also used for “support, promotion” (Förderung).^[4]

Timeline

• 9th century – Old High German fordrunga glosses Latin promotiones.^[4]
• 11th century – A gloss uses fordrunga for praerogativa.^[4]
• 1596 – First record of the sense “challenge to a duel”.^[4]
• 18th century – End of its main use as a legal claim; later chiefly a financial claim.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A firmly expressed demand or claim: Die Streikenden stellten die Forderung nach höheren Löhnen.^[8][1]
2. Something required from a certain point of view: eine moralische Forderung;^[8] die Forderung des Tages, what the circumstances call for.^[8]
3. (commerce) A financial claim arising from goods or services supplied; a debt owed to one: Die Firma hat offene Forderungen an mehrere Kunden.^[8][1][9]
4. (historical) A challenge to fight a duel: eine Forderung auf Säbel.^[8][9]

Word family

• Herausforderung
• Anforderung
• Aufforderung

Related words

• fordern
• vorder
• fördern

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Pfeifer, Wolfgang, et al. (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, 2nd ed., Berlin: Akademie-Verlag; digital revised version in the DWDS, dwds.de
3. ^ a b c Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 310
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm, Neubearbeitung (1965–2018), ed. Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, 9 vols. (A–F), Leipzig / Stuttgart: Hirzel, p. 9, 755
5. ^ a b Duden. Das Herkunftswörterbuch: Etymologie der deutschen Sprache (2007), 4th ed., Duden vol. 7, Mannheim: Dudenverlag
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ a b c Grimm, Jacob; Grimm, Wilhelm (1854–1961), Deutsches Wörterbuch, 16 vols. in 32, Leipzig: Hirzel; digital: Wörterbuchnetz, Trier Center for Digital Humanities, p. 3, 1895
8. ^ a b c d e f Duden. Das große Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache in zehn Bänden (1999), 3rd ed., Mannheim: Dudenverlag
9. ^ a b Wiktionary, das freie Wörterbuch (German Wiktionary), de.wiktionary.org